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[recycledraccoon]

Twitch Streamer Mary Ann Skuttle AU

She almost exclusively plays video games, tho sometimes she reviews the quality and cuteness of plushies. Sometimes she updates people on her quokki pet's level or how her personal AC Island looks, or her longest running Stardew Farm. (Maru IS her favorite Stardew marriageable NPC because it reminds her of her "loser boyfriend".)

Sometimes she gets her friends to play games with her on stream, or they're just in the background hanging out. Once when a game comes out that Mary Ann is legit excited for (in her own way) everyone gathers in a little watch party in the background with snacks as they settle in for the Marathon stream about to happen.

If she misses some streams she probably tosses out a simple update about her and her friends being on a quest or something similar that she implies is kinda lame. Her watchers KNOW she's an adventurer but there is never any elaboration.

They also know she has a boyfriend but known VERY little about him.

Loser Boyfriend™️ Confirmed Facts

1. Loser

2. His quokki pets gameplay is trash

3. Also an adventurer ig

4. Plays drums sometimes

5. They officially met when she curb-stomped his ass at a sports tryouts and he got mad. (No elaboration)

6. He made her a switch capable of running ROMhacks and mods.

7. Half-orc. The only times they have ever seen him is once or twice when he wordlessly hands her a mango soda from off screen. They have an entire emote of his hand with the soda bottle they spam sometimes. (#bottleboi)

Which is to say when Gorgug shows up in the background of the stream one day, cause Mary Ann rearranged or was streaming from somewhere else temporarily, people start freaking out.

Mary Ann notices but only comments "yeah, that's my loser boyfriend. Don't worry about it."

THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE MARY ANN!!!

THAT'S GORGUG THISTLESPRING, FAMOUS 4X WORLD SAVING RENOWN ADVENTURER BEFORE HE EVEN FINISHED HIGHSCHOOL, THE FIRST EVER BARBIFICER IN THE WORLD, AND GODDAMN FAMOUS ROCK STAR.

YOU CALL HIM YOUR LOSER BOYFRIEND?????

"His quokki pets gameplay is trash."

MA'AM-

[cavegirlpoems]

A story from back when I played D&D. It might have been 3.5 or pathfinder or fantasycraft or one of that ilk. Might even have been 4e. It was like a decade ago.

So. Standard D&D. A party of bold adventurers of diverse origins and skillsets gets together to explore a perilous dungeon and stop a cartoonish baddy. The usual.

I end up building a fairly typical character for me. A goblin Rogue/Assassin. A stealth/melee build designed to get the drop on an enemy, do a bunch of rapid damage, and then fuck off.

She was lawful evil, and firmly in the team-fortress-two-sniper school of "You know who has a lot of feelings? Men what bludgeon their wives to death with a golf trophy. Professionals have standards." school of being a mercenary. I think I even did an aussie accent.

Anyway her schtick was that she'd noticed 'Adventurers' got to do as much violence as they wanted without social consequences, and she loved violence! So she was gonna do a stint as an adventurer, so once she was done she could go home with a big sack of gold to spend on booze and cake and hot girls. But right now she was on the job, so she was an extremely professional team player with a strict code of conduct. Always be honest with the team, follow the plan, don't mess things up for the team, split the loot evenly. Standards.

Verna was a horrible efficient little murder gremlin who was also proudly guild-certified. * * *

Now, another PC was a chaotic neutral gnome bard who was leaning hard on the 'gnomes are amusingly racist to goblins and kobolds and think this is funny and endearing' thing. He teased Verna a bunch about being green and ugly, which she studiously ignored because - remember - she had Professional Standards.

Anyway, there was a human NPC we met that she didn't like, saying he was a bit stupid and very annoying. Our gnome bard decided it would be very funny to use one of his enchantment spells to make Verna suddenly horny for him and watch what happened.

Verna sees the gnome who keeps fucking with her walk up, wave his hands and babble some arcane nonsense, and now she has weird funny feelings she can't explain. She does some thinking and concludes that she'll pay the human for a snog later, because right now this guy's just obviously cast a spell to mess with her mind, which was Not Okay. Of course, she had Professional Standards, so...

She walks up to our gnome friend and basically informs him: "Hi! I know you just did some magical brainwashing on me, and I am not going to tolerate this! However, because we're in a team together, and I don't want this to become a problem, I am going to very generously allow you to settle the matter with me. We will have a bout of single combat to first blood, and then whoever wins I will consider the matter settled and my honour satisfied, and you won't do that again, and we won't mention it. This is a very kind offer of mine, because I have Standards; where I come from the normal response would be to say nothing and strangle you in your sleep tonight."

And our gnome, who is a spellcaster not a combatant, looks at this and decides he doesn't want to get shown up by her, and basically tells her that if she doesn't like getting messed with she can go back to the goblin village, and laughs at her.

So. Shrug. Quickdraw as a free action. I get a surprise round. You're flat footed, so it's easy to hit and I get sneak attack damage. 3/4 of his health is gone. Initiative. He says he wants to say sorry. I respond that he can say that when it gets to his initiative count, but right now it's my action and he's still flat-footed and here's my big pile of d6s for sneak attack and oh dear I think that's him on -10 hp, so he's not going to get the chance.

* * *

Anyway this kicked off a massive shitstorm ooc about how I just kicked off PvP and murdered a PC for no reason and the game fell apart because the gnome's player genuinely didn't seem to understand that 'mind control' is a hostile action. This was in the bad old days before safety tools and I was playing in a fairly neckbeardy group, so 'a man makes a woman horny against her will to humiliate her and laughs about it' was apparently not a deal-breaker while 'the woman stabs him for it' was.

I still think I wasn't the bad guy in this scenario.

There is no point to this story I just wanted to share it.

[rpgchoices]

Dark Urge fixed some of the problems I had with act 3

This post has SPOILERS. BIG SPOILERS for both Baldur's Gate 3 and Dark Urge. If you check my tag dark urge I previously wrote an act 1 + act 2 summary of what to expect from it, without any spoilers. Without spoilers, very briefly: expect to have a past you cannot control (of course), your character will say some messed up stuff, you can give in the urges or resist but there are at least two scenes you have no control over, you do get loot for giving in the urges, the story has more mystery and lore, act 3 is the culmination of Dark Urge story too and you can have a happy ending.

Now with SPOILERS

I will go over the acts and write down what extra content happens when you compare Dark Urge to Tav, with BIG SPOILERS. If you want to see why I think Dark Urge is so much better for the story, skip everything and go directly to act 3. A general big change is that as Dark Urge you automatically get the "Baldurian" dialogue because you are from Baldur's Gate.

Act 1: In act 1 there is little Dark Urge content but an introduction. I kind of wish the game had just gone with DU (Dark Urge) instead of Tav directly, to hide the secret better, but I also like Tav a lot and I don't always want to play as an ex-murderer. Still, if you roleplay well the idea is that DU has these violent urges and think they are caused by the tadpole. So you will have to ask your companions about it, and the suspicion remains for half of act 1, at least until you give in the first obligatory urge. The narration oftens tells you that DU wants blood and carnage, wants to feel life slipping away and, well, wants to murder, and you can give in these urges (ex. attack people, bite someone's toe off, kill Gale?? or at least cut his hands) or avoid these urges. Everything else is exactly the same, a part from the fact that DU has a REASON for being on the Nautilus. While Tav is just one of the random people the Nautilus has taken, DU is the one who was put there on purpose.

There are two big events in act 1 and some smaller ones. You can kill a squirrel, but it did not trigger for me, so I don't think it is an obligatory event, but you will kill a bard. Alfira will come to your camp after you sleep a n amount of nights, and she will want to join your party. This happens even if you had not met Alfira in the game. During the night DU will brutally kill her and at this point you can hide the body, or confess your crimes, up to you how open with them. I always chose the option to confess. If you confess immediately you will have a group chat with your party and you can defend yourself (ex. I don't know how it happened but I must have been the one who killed her), or you can wash the blood and then volunteer the information the next morning when the body is found. There is actually a metagaming way to save Alfira… when you get the night scene, reload to the save before, go to Alfira, use the incapacitate instead of the killing option (in actions) and knock her out. Because she is knocked out, the next night a new bard NPC will come to your camp and will be murdered, but not Alfira.

After the murder you will meet the butler. It is immediately clear this is a magical being, and he knows you. He knows DU likes to kill, and he is surprised if DU refuses to give in the urges or even feels guilty for what he had done. You will also get an amazing cloak that turns a character invisible after a kill (it is great for Astarion's sneak attacks).

For the rest of act 1 there is little more content. You can talk minimally with your party about what happened or your urges, but that is it.

ACT 2: In the underdark and during the mountain pass there is no real content, but stuff starts happening at Moonrise Tower. You will meet characters who suddenly knows who you are. They are pretty cryptic about it, but they talk to you as if you were one of them who suddenly disappeared. It really feels like coming, well, almost home. Ketheric remembers you, even the jailer remembers you. There is also a cat in Moonrise Tower who is scared of you and if you talk with them DU WILL kill the cat, so be mindful to avoid talking with cats in the Tower. The skeleton dog from Ketheric room? He also remembers you and your smell.

When you put your hand in the cracks of the wall and hear the brain you will also get new and different dialogue.

After you meet Isobel, you will see your butler again and he tells you that to have a real gif this time you will have to kill Isobel. The quest will be there but you do not need to complete it. If you do not complete it, the butler will come back at night after the Moonrise Tower fight. This is where he asks you to kill your lover (in my case it was Astarion). He tries to convince you and if you say no, this is also where you find out that you cannot really control the urge - you will have to pass a wisdom check to take enough control to wake up your lover and tell them what is happening. At this point, they will tie you up because you are not in control anymore. You can pass 3 wisdom checks to try and thank them, or you can give in the urge but it does not look like there is any difference here but dialogue. The next morning you will have an extra talk with your lover and the party as well.

At this point it looks like the butler abandoned you because you failed your Dark Urge quest.

Another small thing, while under Moonrise Tower you can explore a bit and you will find one of the pod that smells like your blood and other small traces and hints to the fact that someone wanted to get rid of you and that is why you ended up on the nautilus.

Act 3: Act 3 is where most of the stuff gets resolved and things really come together. Orin targets you because you are family, you are her brother. She hates you because you were the Bhaal chosen one. My favourite part is that this really explains why the Chosen three's plan is failing. You were supposed to be Bhaal's chosen, not Orin. Multiple characters (Gortash and Sarevok) comments on how you were such a better Chosen because Orin is fickle, that is why she turns against Gortash. Gortash and Orin against each other always confused me during my Tav game, mainly because it felt so unexplained - like, they were so close to their goal, why is everything crumbling? Because she was never supposed to assume that role. She grew jealous of DU, chosen of Bhaal, and got rid of him by inserting the tadpole in his brain and discarding him.

When you talk with Gortash you also gets even more insight. It is clear that Gortash likes you, that is why is asking for an alliance. Not to a random adventurer called Tav, but to his old ally and friend. You and Gortash basically devised the whole plan, YOU took the crown, you were a fundamental part of it. And suddenly you stopping it (or taking control of the brain) for me had so much more meaning. While playing Tav I always wondered why is Tav even in charge, but when I played DU it really seemed like this was THEIR mess to fix. The confrontation at the temple of Bhaal is the end of the DU storyline which also wraps up why Withers was even with you.

You confront Orin and after you kill her you will meet your father Bhaal, who will ask you to become his chosen again. You can agree, and then at the end you will be able to claim the brain in Bhaal's name. But if you refuse, and give in the guilt for having murdered so many people (before your amnesia), Bhaal will take back his blood and leave you dead on the ground. At this point Withers will come in (and we know Withers is Jergal, the god of death before the Three) and will revive you. You will be born anew, your past is lost because the urge in you had been taken away but the memories with it. You can ask him about those memories too and he says that he can show you the names of your victims if you so desire. You are also a blank slate, a new person born from what you have learnt in your journey instead of your past. So yeah, you can have a good hopeful ending.

More importantly, this fell so well in the themes of BG3 especially the ones of being born again, changing and gods fighting for their chosen. Like Selune and Shar were fighting for Shadowheart, your character was also in the middle of a play of gods. Given Withers was with you since the start, it really feels like he was aiding you not at random, but because you were an escaped chosen one who could be stolen from Bhaal. And being born again and getting rid of your master/tormentor/powerful god/dictator fits so well. ALL your origin companions are in a certain measure subjected to absence of freedom or imbalance of power.

(Also before the Bhaal mission, but after the lover's personal quest you will have the option to break up with them and worry about the danger of killing them, which gives you an extra cute scene).

After the Bhaal mission there is no more content for DU and everything else seemed the same!

[mylordshesacactus]

Suncrest Campaign Wrap-Up: The Duality Of Session Titles

Our player-notes document is a communal Google Doc, where everyone (including the beleaguered DM) can hop back to check details from earlier sessions--highly recommend this system, honestly. And, for ease of reference, every week after the session wraps up I go in and give the session a title, so that we can use the gdocs Table of Contents feature to easily jump between entries.

In general, I try to make these at least somewhat informative--I try to match the tone of the title to the overall tone of the session, and reference something that'll make it clear in six months what the hell I'm talking about.

So, in honor of the party reaching the campaign endgame: A final write-up of all our session titles over the course of the campaign.

A Long Time Ago In A Campaign Setting Far, Far Away (Level-1 Adventures & The Doppelganger Arc):

1: You Meet In A Tavern Fire 2: Patience Is A Virtue (in which the party got what was meant to be mid-campaign reveal information in session 2 due to excellent restraint and investigation, and also met long-term NPC Virtue Chirelli) 3: Secrets Of Shroudpost 4: Nightfall 5: Jumping At Shadows 6: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

Both Parts Of The Name (Abandoned Temple Quest Arc)

7: Stories & Stoves (the party meets Arlette, who runs a magic-and-general-store called Staves & Stoves, and is given a quest) 8: Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Realistic Consequences 9: D&D A-Bridged 10: This Temple Is Weird (the party fights a water weird) 11: Big Fucking Dragon 12: Max and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Campaign, or: The Gang Gets Obscenely Rich

Night Hag Arc

13: Once More Into The Breach 14: #WWFD? (What Would Farrah Do--her player was absent that week) 15: The Power Of Friendship And These Tits I Found 16: GAH, Or: Wake Up There's Hags 17: Now With 33% Less Hag! 18: Hag-gling Over Loot 19: Good Thing We Didn't Leave Those NPC Guards Unsupervised

Werewolf Arc

20: Trouble In Thistledale 21: Family & Forestry 22: First Blood 23: There Wolves 24: Protectors 25: Assassin's Creed This Shit 26: The Silverlight Hounds 27: Overwhelming Force 28: New Moon 29: Firelight Festival

Election Fraud Arc

30: Political Theater 31: Landlords & Other Bloodthirsty Monstrosities 32: Hashtag Escapism 33: Of Mortgages & Murder 34: A Dish-tressing Discovery (a friendly NPC was almost murdered via sleep deprivation using a cursed goblet) 35: Jackoff And The Giant Beanstalk 36: The Key To Success

Requiem Arc

37: Directionality 38: Brought To You By The Letter 'N' 39: Long Rest 40: Please Do Not Bother The Violet Guard 41: Crimes 42: MASQUERAAAAAAAAADE 43: Everything Goes Completely Tits-Up 44: Breadcrumbs 45: A Suspiciously Well-Maintained Passageway 46: Foul Water 47: Several Discussions Of Traps 48: In Memoriam (the TREATY puzzle; the party learns everything about the day the world ended 50 years ago) 49: This Is Fine 50: Sax And Violince 51: You Have [36] New Messages

The Siege of Suncrest

52: Storm of Vengeance 53: Andromeda Gets Drugs From The Cops 54: Mindboggling (the party fights boggles) 55: The Siege Of Suncrest 56: What, Like It's Hard? (the party defeats what was meant to be a session-long boss fight in two rounds) 57: Breach 58: Your Stunned Silence Is Very Reassuring (death of a beloved NPC; the party was so stressed that nobody took a single note in the doc) 59: Tallyho 60: Release The Hounds

Faewild Arc

61: Crossover 62: The Tortoise And The Almost Perfect Aesop Reference (the party rides a dragon turtle and meets rabbitfolk) 63: Warren Of The Shining Wires 64: The Next Step 65: Perfect Time To Get Stoned (party fights a gorgon) 66: The Feathered Serpent 67: Plan C: Jo [the DM] Kills Us In Real Life 68: Frostfire 69: Wolves of Winter 70: Do It For The Vine

Endgame

71: [Preposition] The Hedge (the party begins infiltrating the Palace of Summer, which sits at the center of a giant hedge maze) 72: The Dread Gazebo 73: A Wolf A Goose A Cabbage And The Concept Of Summer Walk Into A Bar 74: Domination 75: In Which Nobody Touches Anything (the wizard, after spending the entire session of sneaking through several different trophy rooms frantically trying to keep the party from touching anything, pockets a legendary item off a display case without telling anyone) 76: The Hand Of Fate 77: Hold Fast 78: The Fall Of Summer 79: The Distant Light

[theemmtropy]

Intertwined Spirits, a Gale x Transmasc!Tav fanfic

Summary: Gale wants you to know that he loves you for who you are, despite your body not aligning with how you feel inside.

Words: 1,753

Rating: T, fade to black

Warnings: Nudity, body dysphoria, mention of misgendering by other NPCs, spoilers for Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3

Also available on AO3!

~

You’d already told Gale about how your relationship with your body was… strained. Yes, you were grateful to it for all it had carried you through. How it kept you up, kept you awake- and asleep, occasionally, when you needed it- and kept you functioning. But it was still a body that you weren’t comfortable with.

Elders would say you were “born into the wrong body,” but that wasn’t quite right. Your body wasn’t “wrong”, it was you, just as much as your heart, soul, and mind were. It was just that what was outside didn’t quite match with what was inside. Like if a bottle of wine had been labeled as beer.

Gale had understood exactly what you’d meant when you told him that your body was female, but your soul was of the masculine variety. He’d never seemed to be too preoccupied with any of the party members’ genders, but when he’d indicated a romantic interest in you, he made it clear that he liked you no matter if your gender matched the sex of your body.

Fighting in a binder was difficult, to say the least, and the constant traveling and setting up camp made it illogical for you to bind as much as you would like. Luckily, armor did a passable job hiding your form, so you didn’t have to deal with dysphoria as much as you did in regular clothes. Today had been rough, however, and you were feeling particularly disconnected from your body. Once you’d reached Last Light, you’d met several people who mistook you for a woman, and the exhaustion and depression from the Shadow Curse was just the icing on the cake.

It is now finally time to turn in for the day. You set up your tent, camp clothes hanging loosely from your body, your sweat turning cold from the chill of the shadows. Sensing a presence, you turn to see Gale- but not Gale? The shimmering outline around his body indicates that magic is obviously at play, and when he opens his mouth, his words confirm that this is some type of spell.

“Good evening! I’m here on behalf of Gale of Waterdeep. He wishes to extend you an invitation for a private conversation in a more suitable locale,” says the shimmering image of Gale.

“Very well, show me the way,” you reply, a smile edging its way onto your face.

“Gladly!” Continues the image. “Simply follow yonder path, and soon you will find him.” He gestures behind him, and you see footprints, glowing faintly blue, skipping their way towards a copse of trees that had been caught up in First Light’s protective circle.

You feel your mood lifting. Even in this dark and gloomy place, he somehow manages to delight you with all manner of magical creativity. Following the footprints, you eventually find Gale; he is sitting on the ground, surrounded by a swirling illusion of a lovely forest, a starry night sky, and an aurora lacing its way through it all. Upon sitting next to him, he turns to look at you.

“I’m so very glad you came,” he says, smiling. But his face has a hint of sadness. “I do hope you like what I’ve created- I made it as much for you as I did for myself. I wanted a moment of peace. Stillness. The dark of night, different from the shadows surrounding us. The darkness when lovers can be-” He stops, a bashful smile on his face. “I do hope to call us lovers. Despite the obvious ending that fate has decided for me.”

You take one of his hands in yours. “Gale, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself. Mystra’s demand is outrageous, and your life is your own.”

He pauses. Then, “I’ve thought a lot about my life. My death. As far as deaths go, the one presented to me is the most… logical.”

“But it’s not what you want,” you state. “You said you hope to call us lovers. Won’t you give us a chance to become such a thing?”

You see hope bloom in his expression, and he leans in closer. “Perhaps… perhaps I shall. Would you like to start tonight?”

You lean in to kiss him, long and slow. He is still disheveled from the day’s activities, his hair tousled, and you take the opportunity to lace your fingers into his locks, tugging gently. This prompts a whine from the back of his throat, and when he pulls away, he looks slightly embarrassed.

“If things were different, if we were home, I’d have taken the time to do things properly. To say it all better. But time is short.” He touches his forehead to yours. “I am in love with you.”

You sigh, elated to finally hear those words. “I am in love with you, too. Though that was probably obvious.”

He chuckles, a beautifully raspy, deep sound. “It fills me with joy to hear you say so. It would be a shame to spend my potential final hours making an ass of myself. I must admit, I have been thinking a lot about how I would woo you. How I would wow you. How I would bond with you in the way gods do. Intertwining our spirits in visions of the Weave. My soul, touching yours- our truest forms.”

You’ve been waiting for a chance to show Gale how much you love him, so you find yourself nodding along to what he’s saying, your smile easy and bright. “I would love to. I would love to do anything- everything- with you, Gale.”

He smiles back, then stands, lifting you with an outstretched hand as well. “Let us imagine, first, the perfect night in Waterdeep.” He waves a hand, and around you, the scene he has created shifts into his study- what he describes as the center of his universe. He creates the books, statues, piano, and eventually leads you out to a terrace overlooking the sea. There, you two sit on a bench, and he produces a thick book.

“This book here is called ‘The Art Of The Night,’” he says, and you see on the cover a faded scene of two people making love. “I have many books on topics such as this, but I believe this one to be the best suited for what I want to share with you. It describes the first thousand nights of a marriage between a king and queen, but it is not so straightforward as a man and woman sharing a bed.

“They turned everything they did into an art. The art of conversation. The art of taste, time-honored and newly acquired. The art of the body. The exploration and acceptance of the self and the other. It is for this reason that I chose it: I want you to know that I accept you, and that everything I give to you, I give to your body, mind, and soul. I see you for who you are- your struggles and your triumphs, your pain and your elation. I give myself wholly to everything you are.”

He opens the book to reveal two pages, each marked with a handprint and runes. “What do you say? Shall we take a page from this book?”

“That sounds wonderful,” you say enthusiastically. “But I don’t see a bed?”

“The stars will be our bed,” he murmurs. “Follow me.” Setting the open book in between you on the bench, he places his hand on the page closest to you. You follow suit, placing your own hand on the page closest to him, so that your arms are crossing.

You feel a gentle pulse of magic flow between you, and then there is the strange sensation of falling- no, not falling; floating. Gale raises his hand, and you see that it is glowing and translucent. His physical hand is still on the page, but it’s as if his spirit has risen out of his body, free to fly where it pleases. Then he takes your hand, and as he lifts you from your position, you realize you have also left your body behind.

You should be frightened, you think, but with Gale here, it doesn’t feel scary. It just feels… electrifying. And soothing. And refreshing. All at once. He pulls you up into the sky, the scenery changing once again to be a cosmos of stars, a sea of rippling lights and shadows. This, however, feels more real than any of his illusions, and that includes your body.

Looking down at your glowing form, you shout, an action that is translated into a pulse of light leaving your throat. You take yourself in, shocked and delighted to find that your chest has been reduced to that of a male’s chest. You also have the sex of a male, and reaching up to your face, you feel the faint impression of whiskers growing in on your jaw.

“Are you pleased, my love?” Gale asks, his voice an echo in your mind rather than words that can be heard.

“I’m beyond pleased,” you respond. “Did you know this would happen?”

“I had a theory it would,” he says, then wraps his arms around you, running his hands up and down your back. He seems to be simultaneously touching more places than he should be able to. “Our spirits take the forms that are truest to ourselves. I wanted to give you this time to be known as deeply- as intimately- as possible. There are endless worlds out there. Countless ways to declare love. Infinite ways to express it. Too much for one night… But we shall try.” 

Seeing the mark of his orb glow faintly in his chest, you lean down to kiss it tenderly. You want him to know that you are not afraid of any part of him; not his past decisions, not his current predicament, and not his uncertain future. You do not fear him, you accept him, just as he accepts you. Kissing his lips, you begin to move your own hands all over his form, wanting to show him just how much you love him.

As the two of you spin through the stars, finding both comfort and ecstasy in each other’s souls, you are assured of one thing:  Gale loves you, cherishes your body, no matter what form you are in. Feminine body or masculine soul, healthy or wounded, clean or dirty- Gale loves you for who you are, and you feel the same way about him.

[dinfern0]

izek lore dump!!

since i was waiting for someone to ask for it and @slowtimelove was it!! (tysm :D) plus a raw cooked izek WIP

Lore dump below cut.

(Curse of Strahd Spoilers too!!)

I'm separating it in pre-COS, COS and post-COS, so:

Pre-COS

Canon lore stuff happened with the exception that Ireena is called Mirabel in my campaign, since I wanted one of my players to make their own Tatyana reincarnation.

There's not much alteration here besides that, except that a particular deity did that to his arm but that's unimportant/for later.

COS

Izek found the party, didn't kidnap Mirabel because she chose to talk to him and get him away from Vargis.

He just sort of... Followed them around, they were very friendly and gave him pencils and crayons for him to draw, so he gave them some drawings as thanks :D

(His drawings there, first one is explaining what happened, second one is Willow and Mirabel, third one is a landscape, the last one is a vision he had)

Vargis got disappointed at his crap job of being a spy so he cut his tongue as a warning, left it on the party's house as a message.

Tied Izek on a stake with other npcs to burn at the Smiling Sun festival (that I turned into a ball), they saved him but, well, his tongue couldn't be glued back right <3

He got an actual bed and was treated as an actual human being for at least three weeks

he met Arden, a npc, had a crush on him and drew him portraits from afar (which Arden perceived as threats)

Arden died, Ismark died when they arrived at Ravenloft

Willow had to sacrifice him in exchange for enough power to end Strahd's reincarnation cycle; in reality, signed Izek a contract with Cora, a power-hungry entity.

Strahd used the corpses of the dead to fight the party, Izek's body didn't answer to his commands and instead delivered Cora's message that Strahd's contract was due <33

(more drawings, first one is the bear lady from the past and the second is a drawing of the players + him not knowing what a tiger is, since wolves, crows and bears are all he knows)

post-COS

Izek got the chance to protect Mirabel - now Minadora, that lost all of her memories when she killed Strahd.

He's mute and she's went blind from sunlight, so it was a bit complicated <3

He isn't free, whatsoever. Had to kill for Cora the same way that he had to kill for Vargis, Izek works as a pawn to move Cora towards godhood.

He's ATM at a coliseum, fighting in a giant fighting ring since Cora has nothing for him to do other than watch some people when they get to specific events but doesn't want him to be free either.

The giants keep him there bc they're too scared to let him go so they want someone to kill him and make some coin in the process.

The campaign is set 101 years after COS, in a Storm King's Thunder campaign, so that's that with the viking-looking design.

Also! He got a friend/romantic interest, but I can't talk a lot abt it since some of my players follow me :D

that's pretty much it :^) i'll make some other posts if the players eventually find him again and keep him around

also his first design for comparison :D

[severevoiddragon]

OK DND TIME

Our group is very lighthearted because it formed from a bunch of homeschooled autistic kids who met at their online sessions(im not a part of that I just know one of them quite well)

So anyway! I’ll summarise it vaguely because I’m not very good at telling storys(and the oneshot was unhinged)

So I told one of the player they were the murderer, planned a murder, and then got everyone else’s characters

Player 1: playing a mimic copying a detective, immensely funny(this is the friend I know the best)

Player 2: the murderer, playing a failed bard with a grudge

Player 3: the player I mentioned before, playing Aaron bird(had just seen Hamilton)

And player 4: the funniest person alive, playing vector from despicable me

So basically the oneshot went like this

A bunch of rich people were invited to a insane rich duke named silliam billiams manor fir a party(he was maybe a vampire I’m still not sure)

The pcs (the last to arrive)talked for a bit, before entering the manor only for vector to crash through the stained glass windows in his wing suit

They then talked to all the other guests, including

A couple who killed their spouses, realized they had so much in common, and ran away together

Captain crunch

A circus ringleader and the strongman he parades as his best act

Another bard who trained under player 2 before they left on bad terms after he was more successful then his master

A mad scientist

And a butler named smeggins(I think he’s a god? Again I’m not sure)

After spending about 40 mins talking to everybody there, silliam announced the first activity!

A concert led by the successful bard!

After gathering the bard himself, player 2 and silliam for some reason, they began to play

After a short rendition of smash mouths allstar, a piano then dropped from the ceiling killing the npc bard!

END OF PART 1

I’m really tired so I’ll send the rest in the morning sorry! I hope you like this!(obviously this is a very silly oneshot but I love it!)

Omg I love silly oneshots !!!!

I can't wait for part 2, have a good sleep :D

[razzberrydazz]

📌Pinned post📌

Call me Razz! He/they, Mid-20s, American.

🔞This blog contains adult-themed content at times, viewer discretion advised 🔞

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I am willing to share VETTED fundraisers, and am willing to do art requests for anyone who provides proof that they have donated to the fundraisers and charities I share.

My art for charity requests post (DM me or otherwise send me proof you've donated to one of the fundraisers included in my masterlist, and I'll do a drawing request for ya. I include some of the fundraisers I want to highlight on my kofi post about it here.)

My shared fundraiser masterlist (uses tag #razz's fundraiser list)

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This blog is not a safe space for bigotry such as transphobia, bio-essentialism, zionism, fascism, or puritanical anti-kink anti-sex work beliefs - get that shit out of here. If I fuck up and say shit that is bigoted, tell me, and I will remove it and apologize. Pro/anti type rhetoric feeds into puritanical prejudice, tribalism, and reductive black and white thinking. Engaging with ragebait content only encourages makers of said content. Censorship is not a scalpel, it is a shotgun, and hurts everyone.

The internet is a breeding ground for negativity, tribalism, and dog-piling, and I try to avoid enabling such behavior as much as I can. Block and move on, or if you genuinely think something violates website TOS, report it.

Only free range cage-free home grown art and writing and voices here! I like my shitposts all organic made by a real person! If I've unknowingly shared 'ai' (ie generative ai plagiarism software) art please let me know and I'll take it down! I'm very against the use of generative ai.

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Fandom, personal tag, and OC related miscellany under the cut.

Fandoms/media I enjoy include but are not limited to:

Dragon Age

Baldur's Gate 3

Dishonored

Elder Scrolls (Specifically Skyrim and ESO)

Dungeons and Dragons and other TTRPGs

Legend of Zelda

Splatoon (2 & 3)

ATLA and Legend of Korra

Soul Eater

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Black Butler (manga)

Gangsta (manga)

Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

Hades (1 & 2) by Supergiant Games

Persona series (specifically Persona 5)

Cyberpunk 2077

Don't Starve Together

Frostpunk 1 & 2

The Magnus Archives (podcast)

Wicked (musical)

Sweeney Todd (musical)

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Musical)

Hadestown (musical)

Arcane (TV series)

Hannibal (TV series)

Saw (movie franchise)

DC Comics (Specifically Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Wonder Woman)

My Ao3 (some of it is Explicit🔞)

My Bluesky (also may be Explicit🔞)

My tags

My art - #razz's art, #razzdazz art, #razz draws

My writing - #razz writes, #razz's writing

My rambles - #razz rambles #razz's unsolicited additions

Main OCs (Original Characters)

Tiffany - originally a D&D NPC in my first homebrew campaign (Heart of Atlantis my beloved), then I grew to love her too much to leave her alone.

Tiffany Mereign, ie Tiff, ie Theophania Athaliah Wilhelmina Fen’U-darah Mereign the Third, Queen of Atlantis, formerly Empress of the Atlantean Empire. Sea elf royalty, born on December 27th, took the throne with her father as Regent after the assassination of her mother Larethire II. She fully took the crown and throne in 1139-1140ce after killing her father Elias for his numerous crimes including the discovery that he was responsible for her mother's death.

The D&D campaign Tiff first appeared in took place in 1139-40ce where the player character party helped Tiff revive a dead goddess and use her power to kill the usurper king Elias and end a war that threatened their people. Said goddess cursed Tiff to die a thousand deaths (not by her own hand) before she can finally rest, all because Tiff rejected the offer of ascension to godhood.

Tiff handled her immortality curse... badly, to say the least. At least she met and married her loving supportive wives Cassie and Anya who help her with her chronic pain and substance addictions. Tiff is addicted to a substance known as heartstone, which is magically radioactive, which means Tiff has to wear protective clothing so that she doesn't irradiate everyone around her.

Rana - Ranarox La'Rouge, originally started as a Haunted One Bard/Rogue in a Curse of Strahd campaign, then got repurposed and fleshed out as my Dark Urge/Durge OC for Baldur's Gate 3. Raised in a circus and wooed by every pretty face they see, Rana does everything in their power to fend off the Red that swirls around their vision that brings the Urge to kill. If their eyes turn red and you are within melee range, it is already too late for you to run away.

Rana's 'canon' storyline has them falling in love with Shadowheart and Lae'Zel, finding a way to spare Minthara despite being tortured by her, rediscovering their past as the leader of the Bhaalist cult, and saving their daughter Mala from being sacrificed by Orin the Red. They found Mala (instead of Yenna) wandering around Rivington. Jaheira recognized her first as she had been acting as Mala's foster mother, since Rana had smuggled Mala away years prior to protect her from the cult (Rana was a victim of familial abuse and SA and Mala is a result of said abuse whom Rana vowed to protect from repeating the cycle of abuse). Rediscovering their progeny put them both in danger as Orin stalked the party and stole that which Rana only just got back.

Rana resorted to killing Orin to protect their child, and renounced Bhaal within the heart of his temple. Bhaal stole back their very blood and life force, disowning them. Rana only lives on because Jergal claimed them as his champion, and while the Red is never fully gone, they finally see clearly for the first time. Before disowning their murder god father, Rana's blood was black deathly ichor of the unholy god, but after Jergal claimed them, their blood became red full of life and vigor.

Ina - (Belongs to my friend Poe, I just happen to be obsessed with her and am the leader of Ina's fanclub) Ina the Kobold is a chaos entity, a zealous oath of glory paladin devoted to a deified Hatsune Miku. She came into existence after my friend rolled up a completely randomized character for a D&D game, and quickly speared her way into my heart with her wacky antics and hilarious zeal for murder.

A little known tidbit about Ina is that she's a sleeper agent, Ina is not her full name. Her true name is Ignition, which is the trigger word to temporarily switch her from chaotic stupid kobold to calculated smart dragonborn. Her Ignition alter ego is scarily competent compared to Ina. She was created in a secret magical experiment and hatched from a magically irradiated dragonborn egg. Ignition voluntarily switches back into Ina the minute whatever mission or danger she was dealing with is complete, as Ina takes far less mental energy to exist.

She is made as a contingency plan for Tiffany, so that in the case she as the queen ever goes off the rails and goes against her own morals, Ina will be there to kill her and bring her back to her senses.

Erinyes - My demonsona as it were, a self insert that morphed kind of into their own entity. They're a cheese-loving fury demon called Erin-yes. I often use them as a chaotic mini-me, and a personification of my silliness and rage. Sometimes I'll shove them into things with varied success. In D&D they'd be a tiefling or cambion as a player character, but as an NPC they've appeared as a literal erinyes devil that tried to sell cheese to the players and tormented them at various points.

Claire - My rage-filled mixed-drow religiously traumatized pyromaniac death cleric. She was raised in a cult to a goddess that stole the name of other gods - Adrestia Andraste, the Lady in White, a homebrew drow goddess of death and war and motherly retribution. Claire's drow mother was the high priestess of the Lady, and in order to become the next high priestess, Claire had to kill her mother in a ritual battle.

Claire walked over enchanted coals, was baptized in holy fire, and slayed a dragon to become the next high priestess of the cult; doing so made her fireproof to everything but her own goddess's flames. On her back they etched an intricate tattoo that brands her as her goddess's chosen, which also allows her goddess to cause her searing pain when she does something she doesn't like. A proverbial shock collar.

Claire is bitter and jaded and tries to escape the cult many times, and eventually discovers the truth of her goddess's identity theft and devotes herself to the goddess's sister Lotte (the victim of the identity theft) instead. Lotte is a drow goddess of fate, death, craftsmanship, and magic, and gives Claire the power to mend and tear the weave of magic itself. Claire is a chosen of both goddesses, one willingly, one unwillingly, and her mission is to break her ties to the Lady in White for good.

Frownless - Ah my favorite eldritch edgelord. Frownless, also called The Frownless or Freddie the Frownless or even Thotarella/Thot by my dnd group (an inside joke), is a shapeshifter known as a shadowless - he doesn't cast a shadow on the ground. Shadowless are akin to eldritch changelings that are descendants of fey celestials exiled to a demiplane. They appear as orange-tinged red haired elven people with four yellow eyes.

Frownless in particular is a notable specimen as he got exiled for killing his cousin in a fit of rage, then made a name for himself as an assassin and overall nuisance. He was hired by Tiff's father to kill her but failed miserably and ended up working for her in a weird toxic relationship instead. He tried dropping a chandelier on her and missed. He loves catfishing people since he's a shapeshifter. I love using him as a punching bag. He ends up Tiff's drug dealer at various points and brings out the worst in her.

OT - My old self insert that morphed into their own entity. This one in particular is tied to their dragon age dalish elf iteration as my main Inquisitor Lavellan. OT is a dalish mage Inquisitor and lover of Josephine Montilyet. Originally named Overtaker as a funny play on Undertaker, and then shortened it to OT for brevity, and even made it stand for different names involving the initials O and T. I even used them the first time I ever played D&D in a oneshot where they ended up dying via magic item enchanted to cast power word kill!

I have a lot of OCs but only a few I routinely use, which as of making this post consist of the above. Other OCs include Lyn, Vrei'Dara, Billie, Domi, Inanna, Dela, Johanna, Jorster, Francis, Lotte, Minaeve, Jamboree, Riff, Kestrel, Grimshaw, Veronica, Atlantea, Styx, Judith, and many others.

Others TBA

[edit 10/15/2024] - {I have streamlined this pinned post slightly, added some stuff, removed a few things, but it ultimately says most of the same stuff}

Anyways enjoy my blog I guess? I'm so wordy at times, I know this is a whole ass wall of text to scroll through. You get an appreciative pat on the shoulder for reading through all this.

[sunbeargames]

What's the best revenge for a black dragon?

Looking for some help brainstorming here.

Long story short, my players made a deal with a black dragon early on in the campaign. The players just got to the point where they could make good on the deal, but decided to help another NPC in a way that broke their part of the deal. She's going to be pissed.

I've talked about this before, but in my setting, black dragons hoard enemies. Furious as she is, she'd rather have them be alive, miserable, and full of impotent rage than dead.

If you were a black dragon (specifically a vampire dragon that can't fly in the day but that's a minor detail), how would you get back at the party besides just killing them?

More context under the cut.

Thanasvachia, the black dragon in question, used to have 3 dragon eggs. One black, which was her own, as well as a gold and blue egg that she stole from other dragons so as to make them her enemies. See, black dragons hoard animosity, and think it's a great show of strength and cunning if there are very powerful individuals (such as other dragons) that would like them dead but have not yet succeeded.

Prior to the start of the campaign, the Order of Renewal (the necromancy cult devoted to the BBEG) stole these eggs from her, threatening to destroy them if she didn't comply with their demands. They also made her a vampire, but more on that in a second.

For a dragon, this was a world-shattering blow to her psyche. She had been bested by mortals, and gave up using her title in shame. Most dragons use titles like Avornak the Gilded as a means of posturing and celebrating their greatest deeds. Young dragons will just use their color as a title if they haven't earned one yet. Not using a title is basically saying you aren't worthy of being a dragon.

She was also made a vampire as a further means of control. That might sound like an upgrade, but for dragons it actually hinders them. The power of vampirism, while impressive in a mortal, is much less impactful for a dragon that is already supremely strong and capable of flight. Moreover, it prevents them from aging. Dragons primarily grow stronger and more powerful as they age, and older dragons have significantly more social sway. Being a vampire means she's basically trapped at her current (adult) age, and will never be considered an ancient dragon. It also means she's unable to go out in sunlight, severely limiting her ability to fly around freely.

Back to the campaign. Early on, the party had met Thanasvachia as a quest-giver and knew she was powerful. They encountered her again before fighting the first major boss of the campaign. The cult had posted her as a last line of defense. She allowed them to pass unhindered basically out of spite for the cult, and asked them to meet her again afterwards.

During that fight, one of the party members died, and Thanasvachia revived him afterwards. As payment for her help so far, she asked them to recover her eggs from the cult that were being held by another boss similar to the one they just fought.

The party defeated that boss, and were about to contact Thanasvachia to tell her it was done when a young gold dragon, Gilaedea, showed up in the form of a young girl and asked for her sister back. The golden egg had been laid by Gilaedea's mother and stolen by Thanasvachia. Her mother had since died, and Gilaedea wasn't strong enough to get it back from Thanasvachia or the cult. She noticed the disturbance created by the fight and came to ask for the egg back so that she could be reunited with her only remaining family.

Sympathetic, the party allowed Gilaedea to take the golden egg. They then contacted Thanasvachia as arranged, but didn't even try to give her a story about what happened about the third egg and panicked before cutting communication. I would have run with a lie about how someone else had the egg to try to turn Thanasvachia on another enemy of theirs, but oh well.

Following this, the party went through a teleportation circle. They knew that a group of cultists including a particular enemy of theirs had gone through on some kind of mission, and the circle was still set to the same location (ik thats not how the spell works shut up). To make themselves harder to track, they left the wizard's familiar behind with an explosive to destroy the circle after they left.

Fun stuff! I have a miniature for Thanasvachia almost completed, I might post a picture of it when it's done. It's pretty sick.

[omgkalyppso]

Karlach!

Thank you for the ask!

Possibly controversial.

I first met Karlach in patch 4 where she was just a bleeding out npc with like 2-3 lines of dialogue and whispered secrets on the larian forums that she was going to be a companion. At the time, I expected Karlach would be a companion the way Minthara is now, an optional non-origin companion who was at odds with most good-aligned progression of the game. I, like many others, were excited to know her. I think there should have been / should be more companions that join or stay with the party through "evil" choices only, because only having one when you can lose at least three is ... Well. It is what it is. A moral lesson, I guess.

Resolving Karlach and Wyll's conflict with one persuasion roll to have Wyll spare her? I was disappointed as hell, tbh. I wanted that conflict to ride until like late Act 2. Wyll could have been more bitter about the things she did, rather than suffer the consequences, either in Avernus or in Baldur's Gate if we want to wish elaboration on her role, backstory or potential for infamy in the city - a reason for Gortash to want her out of the way as he leans more heavily on a quiet, efficient, respectable reputation as he treats with the nobility.

However, she's grown on me so dearly. She's very sweet. Her characterization is robust, and while she doesn't undergo a huge character arc / personality changes, she does have deep satisfying emotions related to her condition and the way she loves (romantic and / or platonic), and I just really like her. I like her little dances, and her competitive sense of friendship, and her big protective nature.

She should be polyam though; whether with Dammon and the player character or just in general.

[milo-knight]

NOAH FOR THE GAME. AND/OR ZACK

LET'S GOOOOOO!!! I'll do both because I am insane <3

Headcanon A (Realistic)

+ Noah has a mild crush on one of his coworkers but convinces himself not to even mentally address it because he doesn't want to have to process those kinds of emotions. Whenever he interacts with said coworker though it is just mildly awkward and Noah has simply blamed it on differing personalities. Also bonus headcanon I suppose but I think Noah would have had a small period of time where his feelings for Tara were so genuinely affectionate that he assumed that meant he had a crush on her. He did not, he just felt a deep bond with her but for like a week he was worried he had fallen in love just because he got excited when they hung out and liked when Tara would hug him on occasion.

+ After Zackariah's death in Hope's Reprisal his former lover Jaqueline wrote a song about him though she never publicly confirmed it was about him. The song was snubbed by the public for being 'too harsh' and 'too unrealistic' though for those who knew Zackariah, they understood the song perfectly. The song talked about Jaqueline and Zackariah meeting during their time in mental health facilities and how Zackariah even then was constantly quick to anger and even quicker to paranoia. Also a bonus headcanon but Zackariah likely was super into Dungeons and Dragons though at his time of death had never had enough friends to play it with. Had it been a normal summer camp experience he would have gotten the others to play it with him. He would have made an NPC that romanced Eli's character immediately.

Headcanon B (Not Realistic, But Hilarious)

+ Noah does not use any social media aside from an Instagram account that she runs to sell some of her custom dolls that she makes. She usually only accesses the account for the sake of her doll selling but on occasion she has used her account to continuously report Mordecai's to get him banned from the app. Also when Mordecai launched merch for his brand Noah created several sock puppet accounts to disparage the merch for being low quality and poorly designed (which, to her credit, was very true). Though a day later a Mordecai stan account tried to follow one of the sock puppet accounts which terrified Noah so bad she deleted all of them and all her commentary on the merchandise.

+ Had Zackariah not spoken to Eli so early on he likely would have found Jericho endearing and even developed a crush on him. Though because he met Eli properly first and found Eli so endlessly amazing when Jericho (even in brief passing) criticized Eli he decided he would never be able to like Jericho. I suppose still mildly realistic but Zackariah was likely undiagnosed but had Borderline Personality Disorder with Eli very quickly becoming both his crush and favourite person. Had he not met Eli when he did, this crush and favourite person likely would have been Jericho.

Headcanon C (Heart-Crushing)

+ Noah was horrible episodes where he cannot process that others around him are not going to abuse him like Mordecai did- which causes him to behave in increasingly irrational, paranoid ways. On a good day he'll simply isolate himself or unthinkingly do whatever anyone else says to avoid a being punished. On a bad day he'll break down into tears and beg those closest to him to appropriately punish him- usually with extreme violence. After these episodes he always ends up disassociating alongside having an extended period of verbal shut-down. If it makes it even mildly better though, no one has ever punished him during these episodes despite his constant begging.

+ I wish I could say Zackariah had made his peace with his death and had perhaps even expected it going into his birthday party... but he truly didn't. He did not expect to die in the slightest. In fact he had actually expected to confess to Eli that same day and work to get them both out of the camp. Even in the few seconds before he died he still could not process it, and was deeply confused as to why he felt so ill before it dawned on him just as he lost consciousness.

Headcanon D (Unrealistic But I Make the Rules)

+ Headcanon for Gone Waters variant of Noah but... after Mordecai died Noah waited for a bit for his cult to fall apart before she came out of hiding to release a tell-all memoir about her experience as his lover/kidnapping victim. It was a genuinely heart-wrenching read that won numerous awards and she even appeared on Oprah but after that she purposefully let herself fade into obscurity. She just wanted to make sure Mordecai was never remembered as a hero or a good person.

+ Zackariah Survivor AU but I believe if he had somehow made it out of being poisoned alive (perhaps an incorrect dosage that only temporarily knocked him out) he would have become an intensely horrible person but specifically only to Emery and Pippy. He would behave rationally to everyone else but he would likely have made both girls' lives living nightmares. He especially would have targeted Pippy, making her life miserable but never doing enough to kill her. I love Zackariah but for putting poison in a cupcake meant for Eli, Zackariah would have lost all sense of morals and become unforgivable.

[socialmediasocrates]

general: 8, 10 and story specific: 9 hehehehehe

ty @plenarys <3

Answering companion!Tav questions.

(cut for length)

BALALAFAY

What do they say when the Player Character asks them to stay in camp?  How about when the Player Character asks them to come adventuring again?

When asked to stay at camp, first time: "What...? Are you sure? But I've really enjoyed traveling!"

After confirmation: "Alright, alright...I'll be here."

When asked to come adventuring again: "Nissurgant! Onward we go! Lead the way!"

Are there any unique NPCs associated with your Tav that can show up during the course of the game?

Lmaooooo yeah.

Her attendant Bhinayn'drin can be recruited as a companion in his own right either depending on the outcome of your interaction with Nere in Grymforge or early on after reaching the shadowlands in Act 2. Bhinayn'drin is a surly, curt, disagreeable drider who wears an amulet of polymorph to regain as much of his regular drow form as possible. When not transformed into a drider, he is a bladesinger and a necromancer in my ideal world; his loyalty to Balalafay and her family is deeply ingrained in him, and he is available to romance but only if you're in a polyamorous relationship with him and Balalafay. Bhinayn'drin approves generally of being kind to Balalafay and (coming up in a second) Alakuit, a general reluctance to engage in pointless heroics, and, falling short of that, sarcasm. It can be hard to tell if he likes you because of how he is as a person, but with high approval he'll sometimes have up to 3 uncommon or better items that you missed during your exploration of the last area you were in before your long rest to collect. With low approval you'll start sometimes finding knives in your bedroll.

Her other attendant, Alakuit, will always catch up with you at the Last Light Inn regardless of when Bhinayn'drin did. He's a tender heart. It's his curse. He split off from Bhinayn'drin as they were searching for Lala when he heard of these shadowlands, and he didn't get the chance to catch up with him before Drin caught up with the party. He'll initially be met trying to help the tiefling kids behind the bar get Rolan to stop drinking and from there will have a short scene with Balalafay if she's in the party (if she's not this scene will happen at your camp.) Alakuit will be a camp follower owing to his dislike of combat, but he will make you potions and scrolls of healing spells if you have high enough approval with Bhinayn'drin and Balalafay. He also offers insight on the culture of the trio's home in ken'Arabat as well as Balalafay's family and the Underdark at large. He has a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of drow history but knows comparatively little about the surface and is gullible enough to believe almost anything you tell him. If you lie to Alakuit enough, Bhinayn'drin will get angry with you about it.

Do they have unique dialogue if the Player Character lets them die when they steal the Blood of Lathander?

She's very disappointed in you for letting things escalate like that. There was surely a way to do it that didn't involve killing her and the entirety of the githyanki creche. You've lost a lot of approval and if you were on low approval to begin with she might even temporarily leave the party (don't worry she'll join back up at Last Light Inn after a check to apologize).

MAYEARI

What do they say when the Player Character asks them to stay in camp?  How about when the Player Character asks them to come adventuring again?

When asked to stay at camp, first time: "You cannot be serious."

After confirmation: "Fine."

When asked to come adventuring again: "Nin lotmaeer fil. Let us continue on."

Are there any unique NPCs associated with your Tav that can show up during the course of the game?

Early on after recruiting her, Mayeari will explain that she was trying to get to the shadowlands to rescue a group of drow diplomats who were on their way to ratify a ceasefire agreement between two noble houses who had been at war with one another for the past three hundred years. She'll explain that the group was waylaid by Absolutists and that one member in particular is extremely necessary for the success of the peace talks: Umraëdra Hael'umraena Bräx bin'Cathan, heir apparent to the matriarchal throne of the city state Ust-Bräxaorthe. The city had been sacked by the rival Eilssath three centuries before, and the agreement brokered would see Ummi ascend to her rightful position as matriarch in exchange for taking on the Eilssath matron's favorite son as her consort. Mayeari will claim to have been tasked by the third parties who had facilitated the talks with retrieving the diplomats from Moonrise Towers and escorting them safely to their original destination, but was attacked by the undead as she was approaching the edge of the shadowlands and found that the curse made passing that direction unspeakably difficult anyway.

After rescuing Ummi and the other diplomats in Moonrise Towers, you'd be able to learn (through a series of increasingly difficult checks) that Ummi is Mayeari's younger sister, though she's unaware of this. If Mayeari is in the party when you rescue the missing drow, she will temporarily leave in order to escort them back to your camp. Yasorvir, the leader of the delegation, will insist on returning with the documents they were transporting as soon as possible, but Ummi's injuries would slow them down, so she stays behind with you. Ummi would become a camp follower while she recuperates from her time at Moonrise until midway through Act 3 which would find her moving to the [REDACTED] in the [REDACTED]. During her time as a camp follower, she can offer insights on the history between the Bräxaulean and the Eilssath and some (unwitting) insights into Mayeari's background. Ummi will also occasionally play music by the fire at night. The sisters can be reconciled through a series of conversations with Mayeari; you'll net several disapproval drops as you encourage her to bond with her younger sister and eventually reveal their relation, but the approval will bounce back at the end.

Do they have unique dialogue if the Player Character lets them die when they steal the Blood of Lathander?

She can't die in any meaningful way but that still fucking sucked. How would you like to have a building dropped on you? Well. Give her an opportunity and you might find out. She's also annoyed because she wanted a chance to look at the mechanisms of that lance. (Says the woman who gets an inspiration for activating it.)

[rpgchoices]

Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game… and thankfully people can also submit their summaries of games they played and help me (and others) find games that cater to their interests!

submitted by @lairofsentinel

(click here for other videogames)

what to expect from ROAD 96: Mile 0

Story-driven game with little to play, and more about picking options. 

This game is a prequel of Road 96. Here, we understand Zoe’s background in detail and the reason why she, as the daughter’s Petria’s oil minister, left the main city.  Zoe is a character we met in the previous game I've talked about before.

You play with 2 teenagers: Kaito, the son of an exploited working class parents, and Zoe, the daughter of the country’s oil minister. There is no customization.

In this game, we are focused on the City of Petria, a fantasy mixture of north of Mexico and communist Russia, where the tyranny is led by an “elected president called” Tyrak. Mainstream media is completely bought and altered by his party. I have done a criticism about the first game and the real world countries that inspired it. Nowadays, ironically, everything that was done as a criticism of communism [for example, Orwell’s stories] applies perfectly well as a criticism for capitalism, so I’m torn about this game and where it’s aiming for, specially when you know it's a French production.

It’s needless to say that this game has a high content criticizing our current democracy systems. There is also some room for questioning fanatic behaviour in either side: fascist fanatics as well as revolutionary fanatics. One can agree or disagree with the content of this game, but I like how it stimulates your thoughts and your questions.

Its narrative is a lot simpler than in the first game.

We find and meet some of the characters we saw in the previous game too; like the only reporter of the city, Sonya; the kind policewoman Fany, the tired revolutionary John, or the genius kid who is on the road, Alex.

The game loosely presents the previous game’s  3 alignments: revolutionary, moderate, and mainstream. But they seem to be less tight than in the previous game.

This game has a lot of minigames that may end up being very annoying. 

Among the minigames, and as transitions between big acts in the storytelling, we have something called “rides”, in which Kaito and Zoe do a race in high speed in skater or roll skates. Despite being a beautiful, artistic resources, in which we are delighted with amazing music, fast-pace movement, colour and aesthetics according to the part of the story we are exploring [therefore, it has deep meaning and symbolism], they tend to be performed a bit off. There are a lot of camera changes you don’t control that make these rides a bit more challenging that they should be. For a nice compilation of all these rides, check this video [tons of spoilers, though]. I personally love this ride in particular, when the same tyrant politician who developed a police state a la Big Brother and controls and exploits the worker class to death in oil towns is elected again for 10 years more. 

The game has decent graphics without asking you to have a NASA computer. 

Game fully voiced.

Several different endings, I can count around 9, depending on the last scene choices, which are available depending on how much reputation as revolutionary, moderate, questioning or mainstream you were along the game.   

Short game, around 5 hours of gameplay.

——- Plot? ——-

You play as Zoe or Kaito, living in the city of White Sands, where the president, the oil minister, and the flashy reporter Sonya live. The main plot revolves about the friendship between Zoe and Kaito, and how the class difference and reality affects their perspectives and relationship so deeply. 

——- Gameplay? ——- 

You interact with the NPCs and the environment in a way that increase or decrease your moderation, mainstream support, or revolutionary views.  Sometimes there are boring, annoying mini games as the story progresses.

——- Characters? ——- 

Mainly Kaito and Zoe. 

 ——- LGBT? ——-

Nothing, so far I perceived. 

——- Sadness level? ——- 

Low, but keeps you thinking.

——- Happy ending? Deaths? ——-

There may be deaths depending on your choices. The endings are always bittersweet or bad. Zoe always leaves the city since she is found in the previous game on the road.

[alteredsilicone]

The Dark Urge : Act I

A long ramble about my Dark Urge playthrough, split up between acts since this game gets meaty.

This is my third playthrough so more or less I knew what I was getting into (had some durge story bits spoiled too).

When I set out to play durge I also wanted to do an "evil" playthrough, so I set some goals: embrace the "big" durge decisions, be evil when possible without going full murder-hobo. Ally with Gortash, dominate the Brain. Make SH a Dark Justiciar, ascend Astarion, romance Minthara, push Gale towards Godhood and help Lae'zel stay loyal to Vlaakith. The results were... varied.

Recruiting Minthara meant the tieflings had to die, so I indulged the durge by watching Arabella die. Surprisingly this way the game guilt trips you less about doing bad things. (The guilt tripping aspect I will bring up at the very end, after my Act III retrospective)

I quickly learned why durge x Astarion is a popular ship - he really jumps on you from the very beginning, a total 180 to how he treats Tav. Anyways, he wasn't my romance goal so I let him be. For a while.

Alfira is one of my favorites, but she had to go. Sorry. I know there is an alternative by making a different NPC appear but I wanted an authentic(tm) durge experience. Besides, Alfira would die in the grove massacre anyways, two birds with one stone and all.

Dream Guardian interlude - I made her look like my first version of Viri, so it's a Viriception.

Since I'm collecting all the "evil" choices, I also decided to indulge the tadpoles. Partly for achievements, partly to see how it works. Truth be told I didn't use the tadpole skills too much, so if I replay durge (I might do for certain different story outcomes), I will ignore the tadpoles altogether.

Sceleritas Fel was an excellent addition, obviously I humored and indulged him since I wanted to be papa's most specialest murderer.

As I was allying with the goblins I explored some stuff I didn't previously - got shackled up by Gut. Escaping her was quite easy, just had to avoid her afterwards. Then I rushed to Minthara.

I love Minthara's character a lot - she stayed in my party throughout the whole game. Needless to say, but I killed Karlach for Wyll (and stupidly didn't get his armor because I forgot to put him in my party, oh well), Wyll left me when I attacked the Grove (I assume he died offscreen or I killed him without noticing) and I never even met Halsin so he also just died offscreen.

I could also rant about the whole "evil playthrough cuts you from 20% of the content" aspect, but that is a tired rant. I don't mind the grove massacre being the price you pay for Minthara joining your party (she IS an evil character, she straight up agrees with all evil actions together with Astarion and is totally on board with dominating the Absolute and becoming rulers yourself), I just wish there was some alternative with playing on the more evil side.

Maybe befriend goblins? More drow? Anything, really? Then again, BG3 is already a massive game... Oh well, you can't have everything.

Anyways, now that I have done the first big quest, I went to the Underdark to try out one specific thing:

What happens if you sacrifice Gale to the fish people before Elminster stabilizes the orb?

He aggros, you kill him and then after two in-game days this happens:

Needless to say, I reloaded a save and just humored the fish people without killing Gale. Besides, for a corruption arc he needs to live. This is also why I only indulged the "big" durge reactions...

My personal philosophy is that being a murder-hobo is a boring way to be evil (death is not the worst thing that can happen y'know), I much rather would corrupt characters.

However, another part of me got curious about one thing: if you bite off Gale's hand when you find him in the portal, can you present it at the murder tribunal in Act 3?

Anyways.

Remember I said Astarion really gets the hots for durge? So, Minthara leaves for Moonrise so she isn't in my party at the moment this happens... durge decided to have some "fun".

This sequence was very corny, but I know it's all part of Astarion's play-pretend so I just let it play out. Spoiler alert - I will friendzone him later (for his own good).

I decided to feed durge the Noblestalk to get some memories/lore. I hoped for more but probably getting everything back in Act I would be anti-climatic, so this was a nice tidbit all the same. Also the environment bugged out, I should be in a dark dank cave, not outside.

Gale also decided he likes me. I promptly friendzoned him. Trust me, Galey, you do not want a romantic adventure with this tiefling (also he is soulbound to Nila, my other Tav, can't have him cheating on his wife...).

Anyways, Gale is a funny case because Larian keeps mucking up his romance flags, I couldn't replay his romance scene with my actual Galemancer Tav, but the romance does trigger later in Act I when you farm some approval (so either in the Underdark or Creche, depending which path you go on). But it also bugs out (I had to long rest twice with my Tav as the first time it triggered tiefling party dialogue before promptly cutting out, probably a bug because it was an old save where the romance SHOULD have triggered during the party).

Anyways, moving on. I am jumping over some zones/quests because nothing particularly interesting happened (I helped the Myconids but I do that always so that's that, though I let Glut die while fighting the Duergar, not on purpose he just got felted, sorry big guy).

Siding with this guy has exactly zero payoff (Act II spoiler - Balthazar turns him into a zombie and that's that), which is another evil run gripe. He is like Minthara where you can convince him to go against the Absolute, but instead it just goes nowhere apparently.

I just sided with him and suffered through killing a bunch of gnomes and Duergar. Well, at least I got some new scenes.

Astarion flirting interlude:

I put this here because the durge evil face is just so funny. These two would make a disaster pair, but, alas, we in this house are women-loving-women.

So, remember me setting out to push Lae'zel towards loyalty to Vlaakith?

I went as far as to stab the Dream Guardian...

Obviously I should have known better, because the Guardian has plot-armor for obvious reasons. This game kinda sorta railroads you to go against Vlaakith/side with the Guardian. Otherwise the game would just end for obvious reasons... So I decided that I might just shelve Lae'zel along the way.

Maybe I should have made some other decisions in later acts (like killing Voss), but I had my companion-squad already with me, so I decided to let it go.

And that concludes a "brief" overview of durge Act I:

[sovonight]

I'm sure you get a million asks like this about your ocs but I gave Baldurs Gate a shot after seeing your posts and man I love Xan so much. hes so pathetic and soppy and sad I say this in the most loving of ways hes so funny. my poor little meow meow of an elf. thank u for exposing me to him. as an aside tho I'm really curious; what class is Radri, and who else did you have as companions? :-0

yesss you get it! he's so pathetic (affectionate)

radri's a swashbuckler--and the swashbuckler page in the wiki begins with reasons not to play swashbuckler lol--but it’s cool and it’s been her class for so long that i couldn’t imagine changing it, for better or worse. it's like the same reason xan stays an enchanter in my games even though you can mod him out of it--i know people hate enchanter for the lack of evocation spells, but it would feel dishonest to change something so fundamental to him

in bg1 my companions were:

imoen: she’s the only family radri has left from candlekeep, she had to come along. also in bg1 i put so much focus on lockpicking for radri that she could barely disarm traps at all--so i had imoen put all her points into disarming traps to make up for it. i'd have them go around and tag team all the trapped and locked chests together… not very practical from a gameplay standpoint, but touching for me haha

jaheira and khalid: radri listened to gorion’s last advice for her, and wouldn't have thought for a moment of trading these two out for anyone else. also, i love how the npc mod adds a cautionary conversation between khalid and xan, and all the guidance conversations from jaheira. i just think they’re sorely needed in the party dynamic

xan: i think part of radri fell for xan the moment he said "shall we face the impossible together?" xan's also probably the first elf she's met--or at least spent a significant amount of time with--so there's that element of reconnecting with what should be her culture. she does get a little insecure about her lack of elven identity though; xan’s kind of oblivious to how his eagerness to share his culture with her makes it feel like their shared race is the only reason radri stands out to him, even though that isn't true

branwen (temp): picked up as a convenient 6th member after xan was recruited. i think every single companion liked her, but--

viconia: radri took one look at her, subconsciously went “she’s just like me,” and took her in. radri's at her most trusting and hopeful when it comes to viconia; she'll excuse viconia's antagonistic behavior no matter what by saying viconia will grow accustomed to surface culture soon, though in the meantime everyone else quietly misses branwen. i’ve gotta say though, it’s easier to justify viconia in bg1 than it is in bg2

in bg2, i still have jaheira and viconia, am unfortunately still taking minsc from the intro section (i don’t really like him, he’s just too loud for me), and previously had keldorn but recently had to switch him out for anomen. then there’s xan, of course, though i hate that he starts out with dart proficiency. like, darts can't even go into ammo slots so i have to sacrifice inventory slots every time i try to stock him up with darts--and when he inevitably runs out of darts, 3x faster than anyone else with bullets or arrows, i have to manually put more darts into his hand bc again they don’t go into ammo slots

then when he runs out of darts completely (which is almost all the time) i have to have him stand off to the side and micromanage him in order to make sure he remains disengaged from melee combat in-between casting spells (because of course he’ll try to walk in with the moonblade). sometimes when a fight's tough and i already have to micromanage everyone else and he’s already died 3 times bc he insists on walking forward i just move him into the other room while the fight goes on. i know i could probably mess with the ai to get him to stop doing this, but as annoying as it is i do think it’s kind of in character at the same time--in bg1 there’s an exchange where he absentmindedly starts to say "there's no better death than dying for the one i l--". which, on one hand, deathly romantic, but on the other hand sir take a time out and think on how you're going to learn to use bullets after this bc at least that way you'll share ammo with half the party

yknow, in bg1, his default ranged proficiency is in slings. i don't see why the author wanted to retcon him into using darts to the point of even making him mention it in an anecdote. is it a hotness thing? are darts are hotter than slings? was it like "i'm sure the player would rather hear that xan threw a dart at an enemy than hear that he slung a bullet"?

[thegraveyardshiftdnd]

The Plot so far (pt. 3)

Continuing the plot summary of the Graveyard Shift now on the new blog for it! If you want to read what happened previously, here are parts 1 and 2, along with a link to the masterpost!

Picking up from Yikes and Azule waking up from the nightmare, there's a collective panic as those who were in the nightmare ensure that their friends and coworkers are who they say they are. Frizzle (one of the NPCs from the first arc and was in the dream) confronts Todd, and Yikes and Azule confront Husk. Thankfully, no one's actually been replaced, and they hurry to finish traveling to Dradow.

While Yikes was recovering from the 4 levels of exhaustion from the werewolf bite and the dream, there was a bit of downtime. During this, Yikes and Husk talked to Anzor and confronted him about various suspicious things that he had noticed him doing. It culminated in them both asking if Anzor was undead, which Anzor unhappily confirmed, showing what was under the bandages covering his body: mostly dead flesh with ever-open wounds slowly oozing blackened blood, and an open, exposed torso devoid of all organs except for a glowing red stone replacing his heart.

BACKSTORY TIME: He was used as an experiment for a necromancer looking to unlock the secrets of lichdom by tying a soul back to a dead body to live in undeath. While the necromancer succeeded with Anzor, he wasn't able to figure it out for himself before paladins of Kelemvor burst in and arrested him. Anzor was almost killed, but one paladin stuck up for him, saying he was clearly sentient, a person with a soul, and deserved a chance at life. Being taken in by the temple (although unable to enter it due to Hallow), he studied and prayed for hours and days to Kelemvor, hoping for an answer to help him. Kelemvor responded in a vision, bestowing powers, an oath, and an enchanted pendant that would ease his suffering and cover the fact he was undead. He entered the temple for the first time and was officially a paladin to Kelemvor.

With downtime mostly over, Yikes had the party meet up with a contact of his named Bramble, a hyena shifter and bardic professor at the local college. Dradow is a city known for its two colleges of magic, one for wizards called Clockworth’s Academy of Abjuration, and one for bards called Autumnrun’s College for Debators, Orators, and all things Eloquent, which Bramble works at. He's been working on a book for the last 10 years about shapechanging, the races associated with it, and the myths about them. Yikes was interviewed for the book years ago, and now he's taking Husk to meet him to get more information on changelings. During this cheerful reunion, a student comes in and asks if Bramble has seen a friend of hers, Falthrax, an older dwarf who's also a student. After searching where he'd been previously, the party found a seemingly sentient book called The Price of Beauty (yes it's the module from Candlekeep Mysteries). Telling it their problems caused it to open a portal to a dirt path lined by stone lilies in the middle of a jungle. The trees are recognized by Husk as this is part of the same jungle they lived on the other continent in the country of Llaethpotel. The party venture in, assuming this is where the missing dwarf went, and Bramble promises them he will help on the other side. And with that, the portal closes, and they are on a different continent.

Following the path, they find the Temple of the Restful Lily, one dedicated to the god Sune. They are greeted by Saeth, a human man who IMMEDIATELY drew the suspicion of the party. This suspicion increased after Yikes attempted to charm him, and he attempted to charm Yikes right back. They rested in the sauna for a little, where they met Zevi, a veteran from the bordering empire of Ascopia and sent here to recover from a leg wound. Yikes was able to determine the sauna was filled with fey magic and noticed very slight movement in the water. After pushing Zevi out of the room, Yikes and Husk were able to coax the naiad that lived in the pool out of hiding by showing they were fey as well. She introduced herself as Cyrena, and she told the party the temple had been taken over by a coven of hags, and her friend and founder of the temple, Sylvarie, had been missing for a decade, presumed dead.

With a day of investigating, they discovered Falthrax and another victim of the hags in what used to be Sylvarie's tower which the hags use as their home now. They also uncovered cursed paintings that seemingly tied a hag curse to these victims. With the break in noticed by a gargoyle, the party was on a time limit to get these victims out. Zevi stepped up, additionally distracting the hags, and after ordering Bramble to open up the portal using sending, they got the victims through and a fight began. The party killed the hags, but when faced by Saeth, revealing himself to be a cambian all along, Todd was able to persuade a negotiation instead, for a trade of information: the hags' recipe for the cursed paintings for Saeth, and information about the fey and changelings for the party. Saeth reveals there used to be a changeling settlement deep within the forest, which was destroyed 3 decades ago, making Husk question why their archfey, Nonna, who lives in the forest, didn't tell them about that. Saeth leaves with the hags' recipe content, and the party returns to the temple to discover a massacre. The hags and Saeth had killed the other visitors of the temple before chasing the party to leave no witnesses.

It's a somber moment to mourn the dead, but their work isn't over. They find Slyvarie in the basement of the abandoned shrine of Sune, who has been transformed into a medusa and petrified Yikes and Todd. However, Cyrena was brought along per her request, and she quickly convinced Slyvarie everything was ok, and she would finally be safe. A few professors from the bardic college were sent for to un-petrify the characters, and they finally headed back to Dradow.

They received an award from the headmaster of the college for their excellent work saving their missing student and were allowed to keep the Price of Beauty. The party now has a fairly easy way to travel to a base of operations outside of the continent if they ever find themselves in trouble.

And with that, unfortunately, Azule and Todd leave the game here. Azule was almost outed as a necromancer and left the circus, and Todd, with a deadline to fulfill a deal to their warlock patron looming, decided to leave as well.

The party does add one new member to their ranks: the NPC Frizzle! She had been given the ability to not sleep by her patron after the nightmare as a show of good will, and she decided to stop being so scared and stand up for herself and her friends. With that, Yikes and Husk invited her to join them to try to take down Margylia, and while she is still terrified, she agreed.